Containers for beverages such as milk, cream, other dairy products, juices, and the like are conventionally constructed from thermoplastic coated paperboard. One well known type of these containers includes a top end closure with a folded gable roof having a vertically projecting seal at the roof ridge for sealing the container and providing a readily available pouring spout when the contents of the container are to be dispensed. Such an arrangement is shown and described in Egleston et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,940. Other containers have included gable top end closures which have been flattened into flat top configurations. As an example of such arrangement, see Skjelby U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,867. Still other containers which are known to eliminate internal raw edges consist of a so-called "fin seal" type top closure configuration, such as shown and described in Auslegeschrift No. 1,586,458.
Coated paperboard blanks for constructing such a container are made on converting machines similar to those disclosed by Monroe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,208 and Earp U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,600. After construction, the blanks are processed by forming, filling and sealing machines, such as those disclosed by Monroe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,303,761, Allen U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,236, Egleston U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,659 or Young U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,833, to produce the formed, filled and sealed containers of the Egleston et al and Skjelby types referred to above, both of which open into a "pitcher pour" type spout. The U.S. Pat. No. 1,586,458 fin seal top does not open into a suitable pouring spout but, rather, requires the cutting or tearing off of a corner in order to provide a pouring opening.
While these containers have been generally satisfactory, it is desirable to incorporate features whereby raw edges are eliminated on the inside of the container and an additional inner seal is provided in conjunction with a tear strip to provide a pouring spout structure and to help insure the sterile integrity of the container.